Stamping and numbering machine.



No. 874,358 I I I PATBNTEDDEG.17,1907.

, J.PRENOH.

STAMPING AND NUMBERING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED JAN.17.1907.

m v Q ZVZ'ZneSSeS: g {gay/entano ii'orney.

so Fig.1,-is the base or bed of'the frame of the v UNITED STATES PATENTonsron JOSEPH FRENCH, OF WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAXD, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALFTO THE SEWING MACHINES SUPPLIES COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ACORPORATION OF MAS- SACHUSETTS.

STAMPING AND NUIvIBERING MACI-IINE.

Patented Dec. 17, 1907.

, Applicationiiled January 17. 1907- Serial No. 352.676. 7

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosErn FRENCH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Woonsocket, in the county of Providence, State of RhodeIsland, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Stampingand Numbering Machines, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to power stamping and numbering machines, and hasbeen designed-more especially as an improvement in machines of thegeneral class of which the machine of United States Letters Patent toJames 'D. Humphrey and myself, 'No. 660,512, dated October 23,1900,constitutes an example.

The general object of the invention vis to provide meansby which thematerial which is to be stamped or numbered shall be held firmly inplace upon the work-support at the 7 time of being stamped or marked,and whereby the said material shall be prevented from wrinkling-orturning over upon itself at such time. I

A s ecial aim of the invention is to facilitate t e operation ofimprinting or marking upon laundry articles, and other articlescorlnposed of cloth or similarly flexible mater1a The invention consistsin the combination with the work-support and the printing-head I of astamping or numbering machine, of a hold-down device or resserwhichengages with the article placed upon the said worksupport andoperates tot-hold thesaid article properly in position at the time ofthe movement 0 the printing head toward the workg t 4o e inventionconsists further in aholddown device or presser, such as aforesaid, op-

' eratively connected with theprinting head and actuated through themovement of the latter. l

An embodiment of the'invention is shown in the dra s, in which latter,

Figure 1 sows in front'side elevation a machine of the class aforesaid.Fig.- 2isa detail viewinplan. f v.

' Having reference to .the drayvmgs at 1,

machine shown inthe drawings, and at 2 is the work-s11 port.

v At 3 is t e printing heath or as it sometimes is called, type-wheelcarrier; At 4 is one of the settable type-wheels which are mounted uponthe said rinting head or carrier, only a. portion of the wheel which isat %he front in Fig. 1 being shown in the lattergure.

At 5 is the supporting arm of the printinghead or type-wheel carrier,the said supporting arm being shown pivoted at 6 upon the base or bed 1,and, as in the machine of the United States Letters Patent aforesaid,may be operated by a cam, not shown, mounted upon the shaft 7, Fig. 1,and said shaft and] cam may be arranged as in the said patent to standstill normally with the printing-head or type-wheel carrier in theraised osition which they occupy in Fig. 1, and to )e actuated by meansof suitable connections with.

thedriving-shaft 7 at the will of the operator, to depress the said armand printing-head so as to carry the printing surfaces into contact withthe article resting upon Work-support 2.

Fig. 1 shows the driving shaft 8 provided with a band-Wheel 9 for thereception of a Y driving power, and having fixed thereon a spurplnionmeshing with a spur-gear 11 turning loosely upon the shaft 7. As intheatent, it is intended that wheel 11 shall have combined therewithclutch-devices, including as part thereof the clutch-wheel 11 and dog 13for engagement therewith, by means of which to make the wheel 11 fastwith the shaft 6 at the will of the operator, when it is desired torotate the cam aforesaid so as to cause the printing-head or type-wheelcarrier to act. At 14 is the hold-down device or presser. It is carriedby the arm 141, the latter being hung ii on the shaft 6 of the supportin-arm 5 o the printing-head or t e-whee carrier so as to swingconcentrical y with the said supporting arm and printing-head ortype-wheel carrier. The under portion of the hold-down or resser 14 isadapted to make contact with t e u per surface of the work-support 2 ort e article .resting upon the said work-supporhand the said hold-down orpresseris formed with an opening 142 therethrough shown most clearly inFig, 2 to admit the acting portions of the type-wheels 4 and enable theprinting characters which have been adjusted into position to print tomake contact with the article which is tobe' rinted or marked. Theopposite sides of thesaid opening are shaped to clearthe printincharacters at right and left of those which rave been adjusted to theprinting line. It is intended. that the holddown or presser normallyshall occupy an elevated position separated from the surface of theWork-support suflicientlyto admit of the article to'be imprinted ormarked being passed in between them, and also so as to enable the saidarticle to be adjusted as may be necessary, and it is operativelycombined with the printing-head or its supporting-arm 5, so as to causethe same to be raised from the work-support at the time of the ascent ofthe printing-head and its supporting-arm, and depressed against the saidsurface at the time of the descent of the printing-head and itssupporting arm. In the present instance,

a rod 61 is connected with the arm 141 of the hold-down or presser by apivotal in or stud 71, the said rod extending upward y from the saidpivotal pin or stud and its slot being passed through the hole 01 aswivel-piece 81 which is carried by the supporting arm 5, the saidswivel-piece being free to turn on a horizontal axis in well-knownmanner to accommodate itself to the varying inclination of the rod 61 asthe distance between the arms 5 and 1 11 changes. An expandingflspiralspring 91 is compressed betweena collar 101 on the lower part of the rod61 and the under side oi the said swivel-piece 81, while a nut andlock-nut 111 are applied to the-threaded upper end of the rod 6 abovethe said swivelpiece. In the descent of the supporting-arm 5 andprinting-head the swivel-piece 81 acts against the spring 91 to carrythe arm 141 and hold-down or presser toward and against the work-support2 or the article resting thereon. After the hold-down or presserencounters the worksupport or the said articl the continued descent ofthe supporting-arm 5 and printing-head 3 causes the spring 91 to besomewhat compressed by the further action of the swivel-piece 81thereagainst, thus operating to cause the hold-down or presser to actwith yielding force at the time of the printing movement. In the upwardmovement of the supporting-arm and rintinghead the swivel-piece 81engages witli the nut at 111 (or With the lower vone of the nuts whentwo are employed) and acts tolift the arm 141 and work-holder erpresser, thereby restoring it to its position in Fig. 1.

The form and construction of the holddown or presser, the manner ofmounting it in the machine, and the mode and means of operating the samemay be varied without involving departure from the broad principles ofthe invention.

What is claimed as the invention is,

1. In a stamping or numbering machine, in combination, a stationarywork-support, a printing-head movable toward and from the saidstationary Work-support for the purpose of numbering or marking anarticle thereon, a workhold-down or presser, and means whereby the saidhold-down or presscr is operatively engaged with the said printingheadand actuated thereby, the said means embracing a spring intermediate theprinting-head and the hold-down or having its tension increased t oughthe printing movement of the printing-head to' bear the hold-down orpresser with yielding force against the article placed upon the sttionary work-support and thereby clamp the said article fixedly on thework-support as the carrier approaches, and at the time of theimpression.

2. In a stamping or numbering machine, in combination, the swingingprinting-head, the stationary Work-support, the rigid workholder orpresser, the supporting arm for said work-holder or prcsser, and meansfor transmitting yielding pressure from the printinghead to the Workhold-down or presser to thereby actuate the latter to clamp the articlewhich is to be numbered or marked fixedly upon the stationarywork-support as the printing-head approaches the latter, and at the timeof the impression.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH FRENCH Vi'itnesses CHAS. F. RANDALL,

EDITH J. ANDERSON.

resser and

